Index of Articles

There are three ways to find what you’re looking for on this site.

To find articles under broad subject headings, use this alphabetical page.
For more specific enquiries, i.e. for the many sub-topics within blog entries, use either the Categories drop down menu or the Search facility, both located on the home page sidebar.

Blue text on any page is an active link. If clicked, it will open in a new window.
An asterisk * before the name of an article on this page indicates original research.

Angelus ad virginem
Angelus ad virginem: why early music and traditional music share the same gene pool

Agincourt Carol
Taming the Devil’s carol: Ther is no rose of swych vertu … coming soon

Arbeau, Thoinot
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

armed man, The / L’homme armé
L’homme armé / The armed man: the remarkable life of a 15^th century song and its contemporary resonance

bandora
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion

Barbara Allen
Was Barbara Allen really so cruel? … coming soon

baroque guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

baroque lute
The lute: a thumbnail history

baroque music
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music

Belle qui tiens ma vie
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

Beverley Minster
The magnificent medieval musicians of Beverley Minster: an illustrated guide to its minstrels and allegorical carvings.
* Part 1: The Minster’s history and its 14^th century allegorical carvings. … coming soon
* Part 2: 14^th century carvings of musicians. … coming soon
* Part 3: More 14^th century carvings of musicians. … coming soon
* Part 4: The role of the medieval Beverley musicians’ guild. … coming soon
* Part 5: Carvings of musicians from the 16^th and 20^th century. … coming soon

Bird on a briar
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

Bob the Builder (spoof article for 1^st April)
NEW DISCOVERY! Rob. mason, builder, his galiard

Boissart mandore
– see Mandore.

Bosch, Jheronimus
Performable music in medieval and renaissance art … coming soon
The modern myth of Bosch’s butt music … coming soon

bray harp
The bray harp: getting a buzz from early music
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
Westron wynde: a beautiful fragment of longing

Breve regnum erigitur
Early music in fascist fires – or – The extraordinary survival of a Polish early music gem: Breve regnum erigitur … coming soon

Bring us in good ale
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

broadside ballads
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music
Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 3 of 3: Music
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17^th century seasonal song

Bryd one brere
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

Calen o Custure me (Cailín ó Chois tSiúre mé, Caleno custure me, Callin o custure me, Callino Casturame, Calmie custure me)
Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?

Cantigas de Santa Maria
* “Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
* “I wish from this day forth to be her troubadour”: the composition of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 2/6)
* The Virgin’s vengeance and Regina’s rewards: the surprising character of Mary in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 3/6)
* The animated chop of meat (and other miraculous marvels): pilgrimage songs in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 4/6)
* “Infidels”, “traitors” and “that ugly bearded crew”: fear and loathing in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 5/6)
* Surprising songs of sentient statues: the Virgin, Venus, and Jason and the Argonauts (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 6/6) 
* Performing medieval music. Part 1: Instrumentation
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style

Carolan, Turlough
See Princess Royal: the history of an Irish?/English?/Scottish? air/song/dance … coming soon

Carols, carolling
Taming the Devil’s carol: Ther is no rose of swych vertu … coming soon

Carter, Sydney  
Songs that grow like trees: an appreciation of Sydney Carter (1915–2004)

citole
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune – see video
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

cittern
Cittern: a brief introduction … coming soon
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

clavicembalum
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

clavicytherium
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

clowns, fools, jesters
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 2/4: Tarleton the player and playwright
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century
Performable music in medieval and renaissance art … coming soon

coboz, koboz, kobza
* The Elblag gittern: a case of mistaken identity … coming soon
Early music in fascist fires – or – The extraordinary survival of a Polish early music gem: Breve regnum erigitur … coming soon

contrafactum (singular) / contrafacta (plural)
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
* Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo

cornamuse (wind cap instrument)
The crumhorn: a short history

Coventry Carol
Coventry Carol: the power of a song

crumhorn
The crumhorn: a short history

dance
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: the medieval style
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune
The first dancing master’s manual: Domenico da Piacenza and the art of dance

Do gracias anglica
Taming the Devil’s carol: Ther is no rose of swych vertu … coming soon

Domenico da Piacenza
The first dancing master’s manual: Domenico da Piacenza and the art of dance

Dowland, John
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century
The lute: a thumbnail history
The scandalous la volta: “such a lewd and unchaste dance”
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology

Drive the cold Winter away
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17^th century seasonal song

dulcimer, hammer(ed)
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

early music and folk/traditional music
– See Traditional/folk music and early music

Edi beo þu heuene quene
Edi beo þu heuene quene: a love song by any name
* “Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice

estampie
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music

farting
A brief history of farting in early music and literature

fiddle, medieval
* On the medieval fiddle: a short introduction to the vielle
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony

films, historical
In defence of the unhistorical drama

folk/traditional music and early music
See traditional/folk music and early music

fools, jesters, clowns
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 2/4: Tarleton the player and playwright
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16th century
Performable music in medieval and renaissance art … coming soon

Foweles in þe frith
* Foweles in þe frith (birds in the wood): mystery and beauty in a 13^th century song

gemshorn
The gemshorn: a (necessarily) short history

gittern
* The gittern: a short history
* The Elblag gittern: a case of mistaken identity … coming soon
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

goliards
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Greensleeves   
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 3 of 3: Music

guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

hammer dulcimer
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

harp
The bray harp: getting a buzz from early music
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English

harpsichord
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

historical drama
In defence of the unhistorical drama

hurdy gurdy (vielle à roue)
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

In dulci jubilo
Nails, needles, chains and angels: the pain and joy of In dulci jubilo

In the Fields in Frost and Snow
Old MacDonald Had A Farm: an early music classic … coming soon

jesters, fools, clowns
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 2/4: Tarleton the player and playwright
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century
Performable music in medieval and renaissance art … coming soon

Kalenda maya
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music

koboz, kobza, coboz
* The Elblag gittern: a case of mistaken identity … coming soon
Early music in fascist fires – or – The extraordinary survival of a Polish early music gem: Breve regnum erigitur … coming soon

Latin guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

L’homme armé / The armed man
L’homme armé / The armed man: the remarkable life of a 15^th century song and its contemporary resonance

Lully, lulla, thow littell tiné child
Coventry Carol: the power of a song

lute
The lute: a thumbnail history
Performable music in medieval and renaissance art … coming soon

Lyke-Wake Dirge
The Lyke-Wake Dirge: the revival of an Elizabethan song of the afterlife

Magno gaudens
Boy bishops, role reversals, and a rare 13^th century song: Magno gaudens … coming soon

mandore    
The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 1 of 3: The pre-history of the mandore
* The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 2 of 3: Obervations on the Boissart mandore
The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 3 of 3: Creating a new mandore inspired by the ‘Boissart’ design

medieval music
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
* Performing medieval music. Part 1: Instrumentation
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style

medieval music notation, theory, modes
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
* Bird on a briar: constructing the missing voice
* Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle
* The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
* Performing medieval music. Part 1: Instrumentation
* Performing medieval music. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style
* Foweles in þe frith (birds in the wood): mystery and beauty in a 13^th century song

medley (ballad genre)
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer

Mirie it is while sumer ilast
* Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English

Moorish guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

morris dancing
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters

movies, historical
In defence of the unhistorical drama

O’Carolan, Turlough
See Princess Royal: the history of an Irish?/English?/Scottish? air/song/dance … coming soon

Old MacDonald Had A Farm
Old MacDonald Had A Farm: an early music classic … coming soon

Orchésographie
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

organ
See portative organ or positive organ.

organistrum
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

orpharion
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters

oud
The oud: a short guide to a long history

penorcon
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion

Perspice Christicola
* Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo

pipe and tabor
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer

portative organ
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

positive organ
The medieval portative organ: an interview with Cristina Alís Raurich

Princess Royal
Princess Royal: the history of an Irish?/English?/Scottish? air/song/dance … coming soon

psaltery
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

rebec
The rebec: a short history from court to street

renaissance dance
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour

renaissance music
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour

renaissance guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

renaissance lute
The lute: a thumbnail history

Salutation carol
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Shakespeare, William
Playing Shakespeare: the music of the Bard
The song Shakespeare stole from: a discovery from the 16^th century (spoof article for 1^st April)
Calen o Custure me: a Tudor love song with garbled Gaelic?
In defence of the unhistorical drama
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 2/4: Tarleton the player and playwright
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century

shawm
The shawm: a loud introduction … coming soon

simfony
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

Spencer the Rover
* Spencer the Rover – a history of mental health in song … coming soon

spinet
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

Sumer is icumen in
* Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Tabourot, Jehan
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: Belle qui tiens ma vie and Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589)

Tarleton / Tarlton, Richard
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 2/4: Tarleton the player and playwright
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer
* Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century

Ther is no rose of swych vertu
Taming the Devil’s carol: Ther is no rose of swych vertu … coming soon

traditional/folk music and early music
Angelus ad virginem: why early music and traditional music share the same gene pool
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
* Performing medieval music. Part 3: The medieval style
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17^th century seasonal song

Trees they do grow high, The
* The trees they do grow high: a ballad of medieval arranged marriage?

troubadours and trouvères
* Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
* “Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
* “I wish from this day forth to be her troubadour”: the composition of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 2/6)
* Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement

vielle (medieval fiddle)
* On the medieval fiddle: a short introduction to the vielle
* The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle

vielle à roue (Hurdy gurdy)
The wheel fiddle: a short history of the organistrum, simfony and vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy) … coming soon

virginal
* The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history

volta, la
The scandalous la volta: “such a lewd and unchaste dance”

Westron wynde
Westron wynde: a beautiful fragment of longing